William chapman



I (No Model.) I

W. CHAPMAN.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY. No. 560,473. Patented May 19, 1896.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

MM @kw 64 W xa @WW NITED STATES 1 PATENT OFFICE.

W'ILLIAM CHAPMAN, OF IVASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTROJYIAGNETIC TRACTION COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,473, dated May 19, 1896.

Application filed August 1, 1895.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM CHAPMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Railways, (Case No. 650,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electric railways, and has particular reference to systems in which exposed conductors are located at intervals along the roadway, with which contact is made by conducting devices carried by the car, and which are so connected and arranged as to be energized only when in engagement with the traveling contact devices.

The object of my invention is to provide a contact bar or shoe and switches in'circuit therewith so constructed and arranged that portions of the bar may be cut out of circuit, when desired, in order to prevent short-circuiting by reason of crossings, turnouts, or other obstructions.

My invention is primarily intended for use in connection with the system set forth in the patents to Malone lVheless, No. 524,773, of

August 21, 1894, and No. 534,238, of February 12, 1895; but it is adapted for use in connection with other systems in which sectional or isolated contacts are employed and in which an auxiliary energizing-circuit is employed for actuating switches or otherwise supplementing the main current employed for driving the motors.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is avert-ical longitudinal section through a car-truck equipped with my improved contact bar or.

shoe; and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing two railway-motors, a pick-up switch with stationary and traveling contact devices, means for supplying current to the pick-up circuit, and the necessary switches and conductors coiiperating therewith.

Referring now to the drawings in deta'il,particular reference being had to Fig. 1, 1 is a car-truck of any ordinary or desired construction, and 2 is the contact bar or shoe supported from the truck by means of suitable supporting devices 3. This contact bar or shoe 2 is shown as made in three lengths or sections, the end sections 4 being separated slightly from the middle section and fastened Serial No. 557,865. (No model.)

thereto by means of plates or splices 5, of wood or other insulating material, properly bolted to the said sections. The spaces between the middle and end sections may be left open, or they may be filled with'some suitable insulating material, as may be desired. The separation of the end sections from the middle portion is rendered desirable by reason of the fact that these contact bars or shoes run very near to the surface of the roadway and are liable to come in contact at crossings, curves, or turnouts with track-rails or c0ntact-pins belonging to another line or system, and thus short-circuit the apparatus, or portions of it, and otherwise disarrange the system. In 7 straight sections of the road, or where there are no crossings or other obstructions of conducting material, the entire length of bar may be kept continually in circuit; but where suchobstructions as those referred to are likely to interfere with the operation of the apparatus the end sections can be cut out of circuit, leaving only the middle section active.

Reference being now had particularly to Fig. 2 of the drawings, 2 is the middle section, and 4 are the end sections, of the main or feeder contact bar or shoe which is carried by the car and makes contact with the pins 9, located in the roadway. 7 is the corresponding middle section, and 8 are the end sections, of the energizing or pick-u p contact bar or shoe carried by the same car and preferably located alongside and parallel to the main bar above described. This energizingbar makes contact with the pins 10, properly located in the roadway. 11 is one of the automatic electromagnetic switches which are employed for opening and closing the main or feeder circuit in the manner fully set forth in the patents hereinbefore referred to. 12 is the main insulated conductor which supplies the current for operating the railway-motors. Located at one end of the car are switches 6, 6, 14, and 25, and at the other end are corresponding switches 6, 6, l6, and 25. The two switches 6 and 6 at each end of the car are electrically independent, but are preferably mechanically connected so that they will be opened and closed together. They constitute in effcct,therefore,a double-pole switch. The

sets of switches at the two ends of the car are really duplicates of each other in order that the circuits may be readily and easily controlled by the motorman from either end, aecording to the direction of movement of the car. The various circuits leading to and through the switches will be specifically re ferred to hereinafter in describing the operation of the invention. 22 represents three cells of a battery, preferably a secondary bat tery, (but one of the primary variety may be employed, if desired,) and 28 is a motor-generator designed to take current from the main circuit through the rheostat 30 and supply current at a greatly-reduced tension directly to the pick-up circuit. represents a portion of the wiring between the controllers and the re\ 'ersing-switches and the motors and collecting devices. As the controllers and reversing-switches form no part of my invention, I have deemed it unnecessary to show them in the drawings. 41 and 42 are the two motors which are employed for propelling the car, they being connected with each other and with the controllers and reversing-switches in the usual manner. 41 is the ground-conductor both for the motors 41 and 42 and for the motor side of the motor-generator 28.

I will now describe the operation of the invention and trace the circuits through the various devices employed, it being assumed that the car is moving in the direction indicated by the arrow on Fig. 2 of the drawings and that switches (5, 6, and 25 at the rear end of the car are open.

The current is led from conductor 12 through switch 11, contact 9, collecting-bar 2, and conductor 13 to the switch 14, and from this switch by the conductor 15 to the switch 16, from this switch by the conductor 17 to the conductor 18, and thence through the controller and reversing-switch (not shown) and the motors i1 and 12 to the ground-conductor ll. It will be observed that in order that the car may be operated the switch 14 and the switch 16 must both be closed. Therefore in order to interrupt the circuit it is merely necessary to open the switch at the forward end of the car. It will also be seen that if either of the double switches 6 6 is closed and either of the sections 4 of the bar is in contact with a contact-pin 9 the current will pass therefrom by the corresponding conductors 19 and 20 to the side 6 of the switch 6 6, which is closed, and thence by the corresponding conductor 21 to the conductor 15, through the switch 16 to the conductor 17, and thence through the conductor 18, the controlling apparatus, and the motors 42 and 43 to the ground-conductor ll. The current necessary for actuating the switch 11. before the main circuit has been completed is provided by the battery 22, the circuit being through conductors 23 and 24 and the switch 25 at the forward end of the car, conductors 26 and 27 to the bar 7, through the switch 11, contact-pin 9, and bar 2, conductor 13, switch 14:, conduetor15, switch 16, and conductor 17 back to the battery. Then the circuit has once been completed, so that the bars 2 and 7 will always be in contact with the contact-pin s, the battery may be cut out of circuit by opening the switch 25 at the forward end of the car, the other being already open, and the current necessary for operatin g the switches may then be derived from the main or feeder circuit, as will be now described. The motor side of the motor-generator 28 receives current from the conductor 18 through conductor 29, rheostat 30, and conductors 31 and 32, the former connecting with the commutator and the latter with the field-magnet 3 1, the negative brush of the commutator being connected by the wire 35 with the conductor 36, leading from the field-magnet to the ground-conductor 44. B y means of this motorgenerator the high-potential current of the main circuit and of the motor side is employed to produce a current of low potential, which is led by means of the conductor 37 from the positive brush of the commutator to the conductor 26, and thence by the conductor 27 to the energizing-bar '7, the circuit being completed through the conductors and switches, as hereinbefore described. The forward end 8 of the pick-up or energizing bar is energized, when the switch 0 6 at the forward end of the car is closed, by current through the conductors 2G and 39, the side (3 of the'switch (3 6 and conductor Hi0, and thence through the proper switch 11 to the correspondin g end 40f the adjacent collecting-bar, as will be readily understood.

It will be apparent that a small and inexpensive motor-generator may be employed for the purpose above described,.and that it may be so designed and connected as to take a very small quantity of current, and that the necessity of employing abattery of any great capacity or weight will be obviated, only sufficient battery-current being necessary, as has been already stated, to pick up the armature of the first switch 11. The battery then being cut out it will not be again called into service until the contact-bars have passed entirely off the contact-pins at the end of the route. It will be understood that this feature of my invention may be employed in connection with non-sectional contact-bars, if desired.

While I have described a specific structure and combination of apparatus, I desire it to be understood that the details maybe varied within considerable limits without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a car-truck and a contact-bar supported thereby and consisting of a plurality of conducting lengths or sections insulated from each other, with means for cutting either or both of the end sections into and out of circuit.

2. 111 an electric-railway system, the combination with a plurality of traveling contactbars each consisting of a main conducting IIO portion and two end conducting portions insulated therefrom, of switches for cutting either or both of the end portions of each bar into and out of circuit.

3. In an electromagnetic-railway system, the combination with stationary contacts, pick-up and feeder circuits and switches for automatically opening and closing the feedercircuits, of traveling contact bars or shoes having insulated end portions and means for cutting either or both of theend portions of each bar into and out of circuit.

4. In an electric-railway system, the combination with a traveling contact-bar comprising a plurality of sections insulated from each other, of means for cutting one of said sections into and out of circuit at will.

5. In an electromagnetic-railway system,

the combination with stationary contacts,

pick-up and feeder circuits, and switches for 20 spective ends of the car, the closing of either 25 of which will put both ends of the feeder-bar and only one end of the energizing-bar in circuit.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub scribed my name this 31st day of July, A. D. 0

7 'WILLIAM CHAPMAN.

Witnesses:

WEsLEY G. CARR, HUBERT O. TENER. 

